It was a difficult call for Priddis, who launched the Luke Priddis Foundation four years ago to raise money for autism, after his young son Cooper was diagnosed with the condition.

During the preseason slog he changed his routine, moving in with Dragons prop Jarrod Saffy two nights a week and leaving his wife Holly and four children at home, working overtime to turn his fortunes around.

Priddis dropped weight and boosted his fitness, allowing him to be the logical choice to move into the starting team after Nathan Fien was injured just 35 minutes into round one.

"The family has made big sacrifices for me this last year, and I can thank them for that hopefully when we win the grand final," he said.

"I tried to do the full travelling last year and looking back on it, maybe it was the wrong thing to do.

"But you keep doing the same thing, you get the same result, so I decided to change it up this year and I feel fresher.

"I've dropped a bit of weight in the preseason, I feel a bit lighter and quicker out there."

The 32-year-old played 55 minutes of Friday night's 26-6 victory over the Bulldogs, which now has the Dragons into premiership favouritism.

It was his first NRL appearance since round 18 last year, when he came off the bench when the Dragons were weakened in the days before State of Origin III.

Priddis hadn't been in the starting line-up since the clash against the Panthers in round 12, an absence long enough that he couldn't recall when asked following Friday's win.